‘Serious risk for our society,’ Poll finds that young Canadians are more likely to be exposed to Islamophobia, antisemitism

A team of researchers is warning about the risks of normalizing prejudice after a poll found that young Canadians are more likely to hear antisemitic and Islamophobic comments around them. 

A study from the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) based on a survey by market research company Leger, found that discrimination is becoming “increasingly acceptable,” as more Canadian youth are likely to see prejudicial comments on social media and in real life. 

According to the poll, responded by 1537 Canadians, 46 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 have heard Islamophobic comments online or from those around them since the beginning of the Hamas-Israel conflict in October of 2023. Meanwhile, 39 per cent have heard Anti-Semitic comments. 

The study also revealed that Canadians are more likely to be exposed to discrimination than Americans, given that only 20 per cent of young southern neighbours have heard anti-Semitic comments and 24 per cent Islamophobic. 

These numbers are high in relation to other age groups, with 34 per cent of 25 to 34 year-olds having heard comments involving Islamophobia and 25 per cent anti-Semitism, and only 14 per cent of 65-plus Canadians having heard discriminatory comments. 

ACS President and CEO Jack Jedwab tells Now Toronto that the rise in people hearing prejudicial comments could lead to the normalization of discrimination. He explains that when people start finding these comments normal or acceptable, many might start not acting upon prejudice. 

“When younger people in particular are being exposed to such high degrees of this Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, the concern arising from that is we become desensitized or we normalize that phenomenon to the point where when we see it, we don’t act up upon it because it’s just too common,” he said.  

Jedwab also points out that the survey indicates that many people are hearing these kinds of comments not only publicly online, but from colleagues and friends around them, which makes the situation even more serious. 

“That’s a serious risk for our society. [People] need to be ready to combat these prejudices and the impact they could have on community relations.” 

The ACS study also found that hearing discriminatory comments also seemed to have an effect on how respondents’ interpreted media reports about the Hamas-Israel conflict. 

The poll revealed that 35.5 per cent of those who heard anti-Semitic comments were more likely to find the media more favourable to Palestine compared to 25.1 per cent who thought they favoured Israel. 

On the other hand, 27 per cent of those who heard Islamophobic comments were likely to think the media favoured Palestine, compared to 35.8 per cent, who believed it favoured Israel. 

Reacting to the poll, one Torontonian said that if nothing changes, normalized discriminatory comments could lead to more violence. 

“I don’t think you should be influenced by what other people think. You have to have your own set of morals. You have to decide for yourself about things like prejudice,” one Torontonian told Now Toronto. 

“[It could lead to] violence in the end. Because if prejudice is promoted, violence goes up.” 

Meanwhile, another Toronto resident tells Now Toronto that he believes more should be done to stop bullies, and that many do seem to have normalized this behaviour. 

“They may have some sort of past experience. And maybe some people manipulated their brain, or whatever, or maybe they watched something, or, like, saw something…Some people think bullying is fun when they see other people do it, [but] it really puts other people down,” Tanvir Quamrul added.